Suspicion
by Totally Average
Summary: Rukia is worried about Ichigo's recent behavior. Established relationship Ichi/Ruki.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

A/N: This was written as a birthday present for a good friend of mine. I haven't seen Bleach in a while and I wanted to get this out so it would be finished in time for her birthday. Also, it hasn't been beta'd so it'll probably have some mistakes. I apologize in advance. It has two parts two it. The second part will be posted on Sunday.

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><p>"It's a mix of seven different salad dressings, roast beef, chocolate pudding, green beans, and barbecue sauce. I call it Wonder Dip! I bet it would go really well with your rice dumplings. Why don't you try some?"<p>

An enthusiastic Orihime pushed the bowl of goop towards an apprehensive Rukia. "That's okay Orihime! Rice dumplings taste best when you don't add anything to them. Besides, if you let me have some of your Wonder Dip, it would only be fair to let everyone else have some too. There wouldn't be enough left for you," the petite woman smiled.

"Oooh, I never thought about that. Thanks Rukia!"

The busty orangette had invited everyone to a picnic at the park. Mizuiro had said something about his girlfriend and now Keigo was yelling about it to Chad; Uryuu was trying to explain to Ichigo the reason behind the uses of different fabrics in an outfit he'd made for the school play; the Substitute Soul Reaper was ignoring the Quincy in favor of eating his lunch; and Tatsuki was busy keeping Chizuru away from Orihime.

Rukia caught Ichigo's eye and his customary scowl was replaced by a small smile for a moment before he had to give his attention back to Uryuu who had realized he wasn't listening.

They'd been dating for a while now. They would've been a very happy couple if it weren't for one thing: Orihime Inoue. The orangette had taken the news better than expected. She had smiled widely and given them her full support. Rukia had been instantly suspicious. Orihime hadn't been showing the signs of a crush on Ichigo since she'd been rescued from Las Noches, but that didn't mean she no longer had feelings for him.

More and more often Ichigo had been disappearing for hours at a time with no explanation. Rukia wouldn't normally have been bothered by it, except she had noticed that Orihime would be unaccounted for at these times as well. The petite Soul Reaper had begun to worry.

Ichigo was trustworthy, yes, but Orihime was a beautiful young woman. It wouldn't take much for her to seduce someone. Rukia had questioned Ichigo about it, but he'd just waved it off without giving her a real answer. She had never been able to find out where they went, so she had no proof he was cheating, but it still worried her. She ate her rice dumplings, silently watching Orihime for any signs of guilt or smugness.

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><p>"I'll meet you after school in the usual place."<p>

Rukia heard the whispered words from her spot on the stairs leading to the roof. She pretended not to have noticed the conversation when she walked up to see Ichigo and Orihime settling down for lunch. Perhaps she could finally find out if her suspicions were true.

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><p>Following Ichigo wasn't too difficult. He wasn't the best at sensing spiritual pressure and Rukia was pretty good at hiding hers. He'd gone to a forest on the outskirts of town. She kept her cover when he met up with Orihime by hiding in the branches of a tree. The two didn't notice they were being watched and made their way to a small cabin and disappeared inside.<p>

She stared at the wooden building for nearly half an hour, trying to work up the nerve to walk in a finally see what was going on. She heaved a great sigh as she went to open the door. Now or never.

She practically slammed the door open in her nervousness and proceeded to yell, "I demand to know what it is that you two are-" Her breathe caught in her throat and her eyes widened at what she saw I the living room.

Well…at least he wasn't cheating.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

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><p>"Wh-what is <em>he<em> doing here?" Rukia pointed at the man sitting on the couch next to Orihime.

"Rukia! What are you doing here?" Orihime asked, eyes wide, "There's no one else with you right?" She got up and looked out into the woods, then closed and locked the door.

"What does that matter? You have an _Espada_ in Karakura Town! Tell me what's going on!"

"Ulquiorra isn't with the Espada anymore! He's on our side now," Orihime corrected.

"What do you mean? This isn't possible. Ichigo, Uryuu said you'd killed him!"

"As you can see, I am very much alive. The Quincy lied," Ulquiorra stated calmly.

"What happened then?"

_(flashback)_

"Do I scare you, woman?" Ulquiorra asked as his body dissolved into dust. He reached his hand out to her. Why he wasn't sure.

"I am not afraid," she answered, "I am not afraid."

His chest felt lighter at her words. "I see." He understood now, about the heart. The woman reached out to him, but before their hands could meet, his began to dissolve.

Her eyes widened, "Soten Kisshun, I reject!"

_(end flashback)_

"I was healed. Because I would have died and failed my mission, I am of no use to Lord Aizen," he glanced at Orihime, "The woman offered to let me stay here and become an ally of the Gotei 13. I accepted."

Rukia narrowed her eyes, "If you're supposed to be an ally, why haven't you told anyone you're here?"

"We've got Hat and Clogs working on getting a few of the captains to vouch for us. He can't just walk into Seireitei and ask to join. We've got to make it so Old Man Yamamoto has to say yes," Ichigo spoke up.

"Kisuke's in on this?" Rukia relaxed a little. The ex-captain knew what he was doing. If he was okay with the former Espada, then this probably wasn't some elaborate trap. Still, she didn't really understand why Ulquiorra had betrayed Aizen so easily.

"Yeah, he's the one who helped us bring Ulquiorra to the human world, Orihime said, "He was really understanding about it after we told him what happened."

Rukia nodded. The room was silent for a few moments s they let her absorb the situation. "Ichigo, can I talk to you in private?"

"Uh, sure." He led her to the kitchen.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Why didn't you tell me that this is why you were disappearing?"

Ichigo scratched the back of his head, "We can't have a lot of people knowing about him or where he is. He'd get attacked."

"But then why do you come here if he's supposed to be a secret? It'd be better to avoid him unless absolutely necessary. You could be followed, like tonight."

"Orihime won't do that. She wants to visit him a lot. Look here, you'll see why." He gestured to the slightly open door leading to the living room.

She saw Orihime talking excitedly to a stoic Ulquiorra. She asked the former Espada a question and his answer caused her to grin. She gave him a quick kiss and his pale cheeks lit up in a faint blush. Rukia's mouth dropped open at the display of affection. "What…Did that happen when she was in Las Noches?"

"I'm not really sure. They weren't doing stuff like that at first, but she did save his life after he kidnapped her."

She turned to face Ichigo, a glint of jealousy in her eyes, "Why are you coming with her if they're going to be doing couple stuff?"

The Substitute Soul Reaper blushed, "It's not like that! I just don't trust the guy. He took her once. He could do it again. Why did you follow us tonight anyway?"

Rukia crossed her arms, "It doesn't matter anymore. Let's go back." She grabbed Ichigo's arm and dragged him into the other room. Despite being rather worried about Orihime's choice in men, Rukia was glad the night turned out the way it did.

At least he hadn't cheated.

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><p>AN: I don't love the ending, but by this point I had been writing for nearly five hours and was sick to death of it. That's what I get for waiting so late to start on this thing. :P

Review?


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